Promotion Trials
by inconsistent af
Summary: Miraxus throughout the s class promotion trials. Friendship. Rated for language.


"Dad," Laxus's voice was frail and nervous. "Daddy, what's going on?"

"Relax, Laxus," Ivan soothed as the chair Laxus was bound to reclined 45 degrees. "It's just a little bit of pain and then it'll be over."

"What're they going to do to me?" Laxus cried, voice raising considerably. "Dad! Dad!"

Ivan Dreyer left the room and locked the door, leaving the ten year old boy scared and alone.

That was when he felt it, the unimaginable pain. The chair her was strapped to, it was electrocuting him. "Dad!" He screamed. "Dad! Dad! Help me! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" He screamed and screamed as every cell in his body felt like it was being struck by individual bolts of lightning. Every second the voltage was turn up. "Dad! Dad! Help me! It hurts! Dad! Don't leave me! Help me! Dad!" He gave up screaming and struggling as the pain grew more intense, he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

The room suddenly went dark and the pain receded slightly. "Screaming and crying like that," Ivan re-entered the room. "It was a pathetic display," he spat.

"What did they do?" Laxus whispered.

"They made you stronger. You're a dragon slayer, now, son, so stop being such a weak brat and learn how to fucking use it, you piece of shit."

"O-o-okay."

* * *

Mirajane tripped over her own feet and landed flat on her face. Casting a look back, she saw that the two men were still pursuing her. "We won't let you get away, you demon!" Picking herself back up, she forced herself to carry on sprinting away from them, knowing they would only beat her if she let them catch up. Her knee was scraped badly and bleeding. Her body lacked flow of movement and everything ached. The civilians' attacks were becoming more and more frequent. This week had been particularly bad.

She turned sharply, almost hitting the ground and twisting her ankle in the process, and bolted for the west gate. There were now definitely more than two voices behind her yelling death threats. She desperately clawed her way up a tree. Her finger nails were raw and bleeding. Her bare feet rubbed against the unforgiving bark, blisters forming and unwelcome splinters lodging themselves into the tender flesh. Something small hit her hard in her shoulder, almost causing her to let go. They were still there, screaming at her, only now they were throwing stones. She reached out for a higher branch as the small pebbles pelted her. She hung from it, trying with all her might to pull herself upwards. Every muscle in her body screamed in pain from the assaults. Refusing to give in, Mirajane pulled herself up halfway and let her torso drape over the branch before she managed to get into a low crouch on top of the branch.

The men and women at the base of the tree seemed to be running out of little pebbles to throw at her as she continued her agonising journey up the tree. With nowhere else to go, Mira clung onto one of the branches and refused to let go. The men had now taken to shaking the tree. "Come on," one of them called. "Don't be a little pussy and stay in that tree. You can't hide forever, demon. You will pay for your sins, you cowardly brat. Nobody wants a monster like you." As the sun set, some of them had decided to go home. Even after they were all gone, Mira still clung to that tree branch, shaking in fear. She wouldn't let go of the branch, she would stay here, safe from the civilians, for all eternity. Her muscles seared and begged for her to let go, but she stayed.

She stayed up in that tree, clinging to that one branch, the whole night.

Starved, sore and almost lifeless, she didn't move from her position.

 _Elfman. Lisanna._

She slowly began to climb down as the warm colours of the sun tinged the night sky. They would be worried about her. She felt a sharp pain as she lowered herself onto the ground. Taking small steps, she trudged back towards the village, pulling the hood of her cloak to cover her long white hair and block out the cold, bitter wind.

 _It hurts._

 _Everything hurts._

 _No._

 _It doesn't._

 _I'm fine._

Shivering slightly, Mira quickened her pace. She could almost hear a mob of civilians' footsteps echoing her own. Casting a look back she saw that there was no one there. Regardless, she sprinted down the empty street. She could hear the steps behind accelerating with her. She darted down an alley and clawed her way over the barrier separating it from another and hit the ground running. The footsteps didn't stop, as if the being had leapt straight through the barrier like a ghost. She had lost precious time clambering over it. Cursing herself for no reason whatsoever, she turned a sharp corner and fell onto one knee.

Picking herself up, she ran down a few more roads, trying to loose her persuer. She began panting as she reached the street where her shabby home was located. The air in her lungs seemed to freeze. There was Lisanna, in the middle of the road, waving at her.

"Mira nee! Where were you all night. Elf nii and I were so-"

"Lisanna!" Mira found her breath as she yelled at her sister. "Get back inside! Lock the door!"

"But, Mira nee," the puzzle was evident on Lisanna's face. "Why?"

"Get down!" Her older sister screamed as she wrapped her arms around Lisanna as her momentum dragged them both to the ground. "It's okay, Lisanna," she whispered. "I'll protect you."

"Mira nee. There's nothing there."

Mira chanced a look down the dirt road.

Lisanna was right.

Nothing was there.

* * *

Mira shivered in her cropped top and short shorts, teeth chattering as she hugged herself, trying to preserve warmth. "I told you it would be cold," Laxus said, rolling his eyes at her. "It's the beginning of january, Mira, who dresses like that in the middle of winter?"

"Shut up." They were sitting on a ski lift that was gradually lifting them higher and higher, following the slope of the snowy mountain. For all the days the s class promotion trial could be held on, it had to be on the day of a blizzard. It was hazardous to even have the ski lifts operating in these conditions, but it was in fact, fairy tail.

"I brought along the coat the lady offered you at reception which you rejected."

"Fuck off, I'm fine, I rejected it because I don't need it."

The lightning dragon slayer scowled at the thirteen year old sitting next to him. "Take it. I don't want to fail because of you and you being too cold to concentrate on fighting properly. Don't make me regret my decision, remember how jealous Erza was when I chose you to be my partner instead of her? Imagine her face when she learns that I failed the first test because of you."

Mira scowled up at him and took the knee-length winter coat from him and murmured something which definitely wasn't a 'thanks' under her breath. Laxus 'tch'ed and folded his arms. He didn't even remember why he decided to choose her as his partner, anyway. This was an s class promotion trial and no place for a little girl. But then, he reminded himself, Mira was far from the typical little girl.

"Mira," he said turning to her. "I know you're more than capable of handling yourself on your own."

"Yeah?"

"But if you run into trouble, any trouble at all, just scream my name, and I'll come and help you out."

"I won't-"

"Let's be real, Mirajane," Mira narrowed her eyes. There was something about the way her full name sounded on his tongue that she didn't like, it sounded as though he was lecturing her or trying to discipline her. "You're only thirteen. The youngest one here, seven people here are potentially s class mages. Promise me that if you run into anybody at all, or you're losing a fight, that you'll call for me."

"Fine, whatever."

"Good," Laxus's shoulders relaxed a little.

"Alright, brats!" His grandfather's voice blared through the speaker lacrima at the top of each ski lift.

"Shit," Mira winced as she covered her ears, for the first time ever, she found herself envious of Laxus's large headphones.

"This is your first exam. Jump off the ski lift and locate a set of caves. You have ten hours to leave the caves after you have entered them all from different points to then get through them and exit at the summit of the mountain where I'll be waiting. The only way to the summit of the mountain is through that entrance in the caves, cutting corners will not work. One last thing, the entrance to the summit will only be unblocked when only eight _people_ (four teams) remain, and the two mages that make up each team must enter the caves from different points as well, meaning that there are sixteen entrances all for one mage only. If you or your partner is defeated, you are out of the running. I will let you know if that happens. Your ten hours start, now!"

Nothing happened. Laxus looked back to see Mest and his partner lifting the bar constraining them to the lift. "Are we actually meant to jump?" Mira asked.

"Looks like it," Laxus shrugged as he blasted off the bar and the both slid off, Mira landing gracefully and Laxus stumbling. "That hurt like a fucking bitch. Do you want to split up now or later?"

"Sure, now, there's an entrance to a cave right there," Mira said, pointing to a large hole in the side of the mountain.

"Fine, you go in that one and I'll find another one. If you run into anyone, hit them with all you've got."

Mira grinned and waved him goodbye before running into the entrance of the cave. The walls were damp and she felt confined, the rocky roof looked like it was going to collapse on her. She slowed down and walked for what felt like hours and hours. Something sharp hit her on the back of the head and she whirled around.

It was a civilian, picking up stones and throwing them at her. She gasped and held her arms out in front of her face, trying to run in a different direction. She was trapped, they were everywhere, lining the rocky walls of the caves yelling at her, screaming at her to get out. She fell to her knees, struggling to breath as scenes from her childhood flashed through her mind. "Monster!" An old man struck her with his walking stick, beating her with sickening cracks. _Why is this happening?_ Mira thought, trying to fight the illusion. _No, it isn't happening, it can't be happening._ _Transform, Mira, do your satan soul._ It hurt, it hurt. Unbearable pain. _Do something, Mira!_

"Laxus!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Laxus! Laxus! Laxus!" A sneering farmer came foreword and stabbed her in the ribs with his pitchfork, making her cry out louder.

Suddenly, everything went numb and the pain receded. Her world seemed to shatter to pieces, revealing Laxus in front of her, holding Mest by the neck. "Laxus?" she whispered as she looked up at him.

"Just an illusion, Mira, it's Mest's technique to mess with memories and shit."

"Yeah," Mira said weakly as she got to her feet and Laxus knocked Mest out cold.

"You should be more careful, Mira. C'mon, let's go kick some ass."

"Yeah," Mira smiled as tears streamed down her face. She hadn't realised she had been crying. "Let's do it."

* * *

The final test to the s-class promotion trial: it was between Mirajane and Erza. Both of them had picked different routes to cross the forest. Mira picked 1 and Erza picked 2. They would have to face off against either an s class mage or a contestant who was already out of the running and their partner, if one lost, the other was the winner, if they both lost, there was no winner. Mira ran through the forest at breakneck speed, wishing with all her heart that she'd get lucky and face Cana or one of the other contestants.

When she reached the clearing, her heart sank.

"Yo," Laxus sneered at her with his arms folded. "Long time no see, partner."

"Oh, hi, Laxus," Mira held his gaze.

"I haven't seen you since you were thirteen and helped me pass my own promotion trial."

"Yeah, how nostalgic."

"I'm not letting you defeat me, Mira."

"I wasn't asking you to."

"Good."

The strike of lightning hit Mira completely off guard, she screamed and fell to her knees.

"Roar of the thunder dragon!"

Mira barely had time to transform into satan soul and avoid the hit.

Laxus smirked and raised his clenched fist into the air. " _Resounding through the air, the roar of_ thunder," he chanted. _What the hell is this?_ thought Mira, flying a few inches off the ground. _He was never able to do this._ " _Plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!"_

Mira screamed and was knocked out of the air as the lightning descended upon her, too fast to dodge.

"Thunder palace!" he roared as a large number of lacrimas appeared out of thin air, surrounding the large area they were fighting in.

Mira launched himself towards him, delivering a sharp kick to his gut, pushing him back a few paces before unleashing a fierce combo of punches and kicks in an intense hand-to-hand face off. He blocked most of her attempts to hit him, though she did get a few good ones.

"Is that it, Mira? I think you were better at this when you were thirteen." He drew back a lightning enhanced fist and she flew out of his reach. "This fight is boring, you're too weak. I'm ending this now," he smirked and crossed his arms as all the lacrimas exploded and Mira screamed in agony as she was electrocuted. "Do you like my spell, Mirajane? It's called thunder palace? You're the first person I've ever used it on, I hope you feel honoured." He talked over her shrieks. "Oh, come on, that was only about twenty or so lacrimas, stop being a drama queen. I have high hopes for this spell, you've only caught a glimpse of what it can do."

He turned around to walk away.

"Hey, Laxus," she said quietly. She didn't think he'd hear, but he did.

Laxus sighed. "You're not gonna go all Natsu on me and get up and make some fancy speech about never giving up, are you?"

Mira smiled weakly.

"You shouldn't talk or even try and get up, you'll only injure yourself."

"What happened to you, Laxus?"

"Huh?"

"Don't think I haven't heard the stories," she said, slowly pushing past her pain and getting into a crawling position. "About the things you've done. About your sudden obsession with cruelty. About the things you and your team of bodyguards get up to."

"I said, don't move."

"What happened to you, Laxus? You used to be so kind to me," she said, pushing herself from the ground from one knee and hobbling over to her. "You were so fun to be around. You were such a good person."

"Don't walk, Mira, you'll hurt yourself."

"What happened to you when your father was expelled from the guild?"

The effect her words had on the atmosphere between the two of them was instantaneous.

"Don't ever," Laxus growled. "Mention my father, ever again!" He yelled, slapping her across the face, making her fall to the ground. "Goodbye, Mirajane."

He left her there, on the ground, unable to move.

* * *

"Hey, Mira," Laxus folded his arms as he raised an eyebrow at the said girl. "Are you sure you want to be a proctor in these exams, in light of recent events?" He said, really unsubtly hinting at Lisanna's death and Elfman's trial that had been postponed at least fifteen times during the past month.

Erza scowled at him. "Idiot, you don't think we already asked her that?"

Laxus rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Remind me again, who's competing?" Mira asked halfheartedly, cloaked in a large fluffy blanket that Polyursica insisted her brought along as not to hypothermia. She had, once again, not bothered to take notice of the weather and was dressing in an outfit least appropriate for the hailstorm.

"Cana. Laxus's pets," Erza said. "Why are they even competing?"

"The raijinshuu?" Mira asked, shivering under her blanket. "I've never met them."

Laxus shrugged. "Master hasn't seen them in forever, so I guess he thinks they're s-class by now."

Erza glanced at the time telling lacrima on the wall. "Should we be getting into our respective positions, now?"

Laxus shrugged, sliding off the wall he and Mira were sitting on. "Yeah, let's get going. See you when it's over."

Mira sighed, taking Erza's hand as she slid off the wall and they all headed off in different directions. She didn't know how she was going to fight. She didn't tell anyone that her satan soul wasn't working. She'd be the laughing stock of the guild. She trudged through the cold wet soil towards the point she was supposed to be waiting for a pair of hopefuls at.

She sat on the ground when she got there, mindlessly twiddling her thumbs until she looked up and saw a girl with dirty blonde hair, who she did not recognise, and Levy McGarden.

The blonde scowled at her. "Mirajane 'Demon' Strauss."

"I'm sorry," Mira said, not getting up off the ground, looking bored. "Am I supposed to know you?"

"I'm Evergreen," she replied, adjusting her hair so Mira could see her guild mark. "I'm apart of the raijinshuu."

 _She's deliberately attracting attention to her chest like that? Slut._

 _..._

 _I bet she's a slut for Laxus._

Mira laughed bitterly.

"What?"

"You're one of Laxus's _pets_?"

"What of it? I don't like the way you said 'pets'."

"M-m-mira san," Levy greeted from behind Evergreen.

" _So_ ," Mira continued. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," Evergreen narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, big girl. Are you in with Laxus yet?"

"What?" Evergreen shrieked, beginning to loath the demon already.

"He hasn't told me anything about you."

"Well, he's told me _loads_ about you," Evergreen yelled, face contorting into an ugly snarl.

"Evergreen san!" Levy yelled. "Please stop!"

"Shut up, Levy," Evergreen turned to the small, frail girl. "I only brought you along because everyone else in the guild is ten times more annoying. Stay out of my damn way!"

"Leave her alone," Mira said, looking up at Evergreen with the same bored expression. "You fucking slut."

"Slut?" Evergreen spat. "I'd rather be a slut than a demon freak with a dead sister and a brother who's about to be! You're just jealous because Laxus never wanted you and he never will!"

The air seemed to freeze in Mira's lungs. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

 _Demon freak._

 _Get out of our village!_

 _You're not human!_

 _Devil!_

A scream erupted from Mirajane's throat as she felt the air around thicken.

She didn't know what was happening.

One second she was sitting in the sludge and the next, she was soaked in Evergreen's blood and Levy was screaming, shooting a flare into the sky with her solid script. Evergreen was hanging limply by Mira's grip on her throat, scorch marks printing sections of her delicate skin black, her spine clearly snapped in two, and a face that could hardly be recognised as the girl she was just talking to.

She felt a large, calloused hand grip her shoulder.

"Mirajane...What have you done to my teammate?"

* * *

The blast shook Mira's body, knocking her to the ground.

The rest was just a blur. Lisanna screaming, being laid down in a medical tent, Elfman being laid down next to her.

It was the promotion trials of the year X784.

And her first S-class promotion trials without Laxus.

Somehow it made her feel even more exposed.

 _Laxus._

She wished he was here.

She wished so much that he was here.

All about her, she could hear fighting and screaming.

 _Laxus._

Come back.

 _"Monster!" An old man struck her with his walking stick, beating her with sickening cracks._

 _"Laxus!" she screamed at the top of her lungs._

 _Suddenly, everything went numb and the pain receded. Her world seemed to shatter to pieces, revealing Laxus in front of her, holding Mest by the neck. "Laxus?" she whispered as she looked up at him._

 _"Don't walk, Mira, you'll hurt yourself."_

 _"What happened to you when your father was expelled from the guild?"_

 _"Mirajane...What have you done to my teammate?"_

Thunder roared and cracked across the sky and Mira slowly opened her eyes.

 _Laxus...is that you?_


End file.
